The Messenger
by Cminaboxx
Summary: A backstory to Claires life and why it leads her into where shes at now. How she comes across Quackerjack and how they bond.
1. Chapter 1.

Claire Thomas was a woman full of culture yet somehow managed to stay humble through her years.

She came from a financially privileged background with immediate family members maintaining to the arts.

Her father was a well known author who wrote books about self love and how to communicate with others properly.

Her mother was a part of the local arts society, always raising awareness on local lower income households and constantly using fundraisers by selling art to help out in donations to those in need.

Her older brother, Brandon was a wonderful musician. He could play any sort of instrument and whatever he didn't play, he could learn very quickly. Brandon also has his degree in producing music and his current occupation was working in the music producing department at Quackwerks from his reputation of being able to perform beautifully with the plethora of instruments. He is well known for working on a multitude of albums with various artists within any genre of music.

As for Claire, like her brother she was musically inclined however she was not one to play or produce music like he was able to. However, she could sing. And what a range she had. She has her degree in music, she spent all of her school years even in college traveling around the world learning all sorts of music and singing. Sometimes with a choir and other times by herself.

Her family tried over and over to get her to further herself into the arts but she saw in the long run how it managed to somewhat destroy lives. Constantly being told what and what not to do. Hardly any privacy. That wasn't for her, she decided into her adulthood that being in the public eye as much as her family was and throughout her childhood wasn't the life she wanted.

She was fine doing what she does in the current moment. She was a coffee server to working floors at Quackwerks. She worked at StarDucks during her college years while she was getting her degree in music arts.

She enjoyed being able to create designs on coffee for the employees. She enjoyed the smiles of amusement that would come across faces whenever she handed them their coffee. She was perfectly content with where she was at right now.

Claire's morning work routine was getting everything ready for the coffee cart. Most of the time, each cart would do for about five to eight floors at a time. Depending on how many orders were made during time periods. Then she would have to run back down into the main lobby and restock on items again. It was very demanding but she enjoyed it. It kept her busy.

Usually whatever floor needed service was paged to her telling her in text what floor needed service. The first page she received was floors 27, 47 and 89. The page she received stated that only 1 coffee delivery was on the floor 47.

She figured she would do the other two floors first considering there was more people requesting. Most of the time, each floor normally didn't take longer than 10 to 15 minutes. Depending on how many on the floor had requested for coffee delivery services.

After doing the other floors she finally got to the 47th floor. One bad thing about the pages she received was that it never bothered to tell her who had requested. So she always just went to the floors with her cart and had to ask.

Once she got to the 47th floor she walked around looking to find a open space so she can have room to do the coffee. She spoke out, "I got a request for a coffee service?"

She didn't know why she placed that in a question. There was a moment of silence and she thought that perhaps she didn't speak loud enough.

That was a constant note she made to herself that was something she needed to work on. Considering all of these floors are huge. People probably couldn't hear her maybe due to the loudness of everyone talking and typing away at their keyboards.

A few more moment passed and still nothing was stated. It was embarrassing for her to be loud but she decided she needed to do it in order to get the service completed. "EXCUSE ME, THERE WAS A COFFEE SERVICE REQUESTED." She shyly coughed after her loud statement.

"Pssst over here!" she saw a stuffed animal shaped as an elephant raised over a cubicle. She was instantly amused at the sighting.

She immediately grabbed the handles of her coffee cart and headed in the direction where the stuffed animal was.

A few steps later and she was taken off guard at the man who requested coffee service. It was a man who had a jester hat. One side being blue and the other being red with both sides having small bells at the end. He had a pleasant smile on his face. She took note that he must have been amused as well with placing the elephant to grab her attention.

Another thing she noticed was his smile. And while that was odd to her, she didn't mind it. It was nice.

She didn't usually see the smiles often till after she gave their coffee. Not in this place. Which was understandable considering they overworked their employees and it was well noted that not a lot of them were treated fairly.

She also took note that this had to be an interesting man to be wearing that jester mask and for him to be smiling the way he did.

She figured she would start a light conversation, she thought best to be apologetic towards the fact she brought his coffee later.

" Oh hello, sorry I had to shout. I just didn't want the person that requested coffee to not get it!". She looked downward. " I also apologize for bringing the service a bit later."

"Oh don't worry about it!" The man before her exclaimed. "I believe I ordered a coffee with 2 creams and two sugars?... Or was it three creams and three sugars? Got to stay energized ya know?"

Claire looked around at his cubicle and noticed how it was filled with toys and papers full of designs. She hasn't seen anything like it compared to all the other cubicles. Even in the Toy Department. This man really wasn't afraid to stand away from the crowd. ' _Who is this man_?'

"It was originally two of each! But since I was highly amused at the way you had me come over here with your stuffed elephant, I'll let you have three of each if you like." And with that, she handed the man the coffee with the creams and sugars.

"Oh thank you very much Mi.." he paused, he figured it would be rude to not know her name.

"Claire, Claire Thomas, the Quackwerks best barista here!" She stated as a light joke. She handed out her hand to shake his.

The man in the jester hat hesitantly placed his hand out. She could tell he all of a sudden became a little nervous but didn't really understand why.

"Quackerjack.. nice to meet you Claire" he looked downward. He tried to hide the embarrassment in his voice. He wasn't successful.

She was stunned the second he stated his name. She kept her composer though. Making sure her mouth didn't open and her eyes didn't widen.

She had seen so much about him in the newspaper and on local cable news. How he was the best toy maker in the entire world and somehow he managed to go into the world of crime. Coming up with some heavy schemes for money but majority of the time of not all of it he never got away with it. From what she understood his crimes were mostly petty larceny. It was a common theory that his business went bankrupt due to developing hazardous toys. She really didn't know but again, it was a theory.

She figured out his schemes never really worked mainly due to Darkwing Duck. Again she only knew this much due to whatever was on the cable news or in the local paper.

There has to be a reason he's here working. It's very evident he's left his ways of crime. Maybe he's trying to better himself? People change.

What other reason Quackerwerks would hire him to begin with and in the Toy Department out of all places. It's clear they placed him here for a reason. He has expertise in this field with being inventive.

She smiled brightly once more. She didn't want to bring up the conversation of his past. She knew that would be rude to bring that up right off the bat

"Ah I remember your Toys! They were genius! I enjoyed a lot of your lines growing up! My favorite was the collection of the toy keyboards you did. My brother and I enjoyed those very much!"

Quackerjack immediately smiled back at the huge compliment of his history with lines. "Ah well thank you very much! Most of the guys around the office call me Jack."

 _'What a delightful and friendly woman'._

He continued to look at her and noticed her hair. ' _What a lovely shade of red'_ his favorite color.

It was then that Quackerjack was placed out of his thoughts when it seemed as if the red headed woman's pager went off.

It caught Claire off guard. Which why it did was odd she should be used to her pager going off the way it did day in and day out. She picked up the pager and sighed very heavily.

Yeah.. she shouldn't be shocked.

"I apologize that I have to cut this short, this page is from my brother, he's in the music department and he can be a bit demanding at times. He gets very cranky if he doesn't have my coffee!" She placed her hands on the coffee cart. "As hectic as my job can be at times, his can be 10 times worse. So I guess I can't really blame him for being demanding. Especially when he has so many people to work for."

"I really hope you enjoy my coffee! I have a feeling you'll be requesting a lot more from me. Like I said I'm a great barista with coffee. I'm more of a cappuccino gal myself" She said with a huge smile. "Please don't hesitate if you need anymore coffee!

See ya around!" And with that she was off to the remainder of her day.

"Bye Jacky."

Quackerjack eyes widened. ' _Jacky?' But I told her the guys call me Jack around here..how did she get Jacky out of that?'_ He placed one his hands back on his keyboard and the other one holding the coffee taking in the taste after he mixes the cream and sugar. He felt a small smile creep up on his beak as he tasted her coffee.

' _I'll allow it, the least I can do since she makes fantastic coffee.'_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Claire had been staying busy with her coffee runs throughout the day at Quackwerks and in the evenings when she got home she would still try to keep herself busy especially if she was alone. She enjoyed baking a lot. Half of the time she wouldn't even bother eating the cake. She mainly just made it for her friends or her brother.

As odd as it was for Claire to grow up the way she did, she really didn't have a lot of friends. She couldn't really trust people. Sure she was always nice and presentable within how she displayed herself and that helped a lot with small conversations with acquaintances but the truth of the matter was she never really knew if people were truly genuine in knowing her and actually being a friend to her rather than just using her family ties for their own personal gain.

Her best friend Brian was the one who really know her the most. Never judged her, always looked out for her best interest at heart. Claire and Brian met back when they were in high school together. Sophomore year to be exact. They had music theory together and they immediately fed well off of each others energy. Both being free spirits with a lot of laughter acting like they had nothing to lose. It was a few months into their friendship that Brian was at her front doorstep asking if there was anywhere he could go. To place as to why so bluntly, Brian was attracted to other men. That didn't go well with his family and they threw him out. Claire and her family immediately took Brian in. They were roommates for a long time when she got out of college. Eventually Brian met a really nice man when they went out shopping one day. Claire had pressured the two to go on a few dates and the rest is history. Roy is his name. Roy was successful with psychology and worked constantly. As for Brian he works with fashion always coming up with new designs with websites. He has a very keen eye for detail.

It would be very safe to say that Claire and Brian have a sibling like bond that just cannot be explained. They've always known what is best for one another and never questioned motives within their bond. They always know what the other one is thinking or feeling. In multiple ways, Claire felt that Brian was more family than her older brother.

Ah, her brother. That is a difficult topic for her. She was constantly conflicted with him. She tried for years to be close to him but it just never reached to where she wanted it to go. Sure as children they played and laughed together. But there was never any deep or serious conversations between the two. Well, maybe one thing was serious. It was a topic that always brought out the worst in the both of them. Her brother always getting frustrated then making it personal and Claire ended up with her heart shattered.

Mainly what they argued about is why Claire didn't hold up to being in the public eye like the rest of her family did. He brother never bought into what he considered as an excuse from Claires point of view. And it's always bothered Claire. She took it as a form of denial to the core being of the person she truly is. As mentioned before, Claire is a free spirit. This comes with not wanting to be told what and what not to do., what and what not to say, how to say it, what and what not to wear. Plus the constant mild question as to where everyones true intentions are when they are around her. Her childhood was very draining being in the public eye. It caused a lot of fighting with the immediate family being exhausted and being ran over with the media.

Her brother is a very superficial person, something Claire was not. Her brother can be very entitled and often demanding. Always requesting something from her that he could not do himself due to either being too busy or just not wanting to. Always asking for her opinion, input etc. There are times she gets exhausted from him. He cares about her opinions yet is very quick to put her down. Sometimes she wondered if she stopped giving into his constant demands if he would even care. Weird to say but Claire does still try to fight for a relationship that she desires with her brother. She knows he was exposed in the public eye in his childhood the same way she was. He just took it differently, used it for his own personal gain to be another fame success story. Which was the complete opposite of Claire. She really tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was so hard on her because he knows of her talents. Then again, he would probably use it for his own personal gain.

Her attention turned to the cake when it was finished. She baked one of her favorites that had been passed down in the women in her family. It was a nice chocolate chip bundt cake with chocolate syrup on top. No icing needed. She smiled. She knew this was Brians favorite cake, she would bake it for him every so often. She loved doing things for people. She figured she would give it to him tomorrow after work.

She then decided she had already done so much since she got home. Cleaning, cooking, watching tv and playing tad bit of video games. Yes video games. When she was younger she wasn't able to play them due to constantly being busy attending to something within her family or within her schooling. When she became an adult she had taken an interest in them. She currently took interest in World of Whifflecraft. Roy was an excellent gamer himself and he introduced her to it so three times a week they will get online together and play doing quests. Tonight she had to cut things short due to being exhausted.

She began to walk upstairs of her home, went into the upstairs bathroom which was the primary one she used due to it being the full bathroom that was extended with her bedroom. She dropped her clothes and placed herself into the shower, taking in the hot water hitting her. She used a several pumps of her shampoo mixed with body wash which smelled richly of apricot. She enjoyed the smell of anything that was similar to that. It was freeing and it always reminded her of rebirth and renewal.

Soon enough she got herself out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her body, dried her hair and placed it in a loose bun so her hair wouldn't get tangled while she was asleep. Her hair was red and really coarse. She placed on her night wear which was always light. She liked being cool when sleeping. She figured into her adulthood that she slept a lot better when she wasn't burning up.

She laid down in her bed and started thinking to herself. Her mind roamed into the meeting she had with Quackerjack a couple of days earlier. He hadn't requested any coffee since their introductions to each other. She frowned. Claire wondered if he didn't like her coffee. Normally everyone did. As soon as they tried anything she came up with they would always request more services with her coffee. She was really good at making stuff when it came to drinks and food she took pride in that. She taught herself to do these things because her parents didn't teach her much about life experiences. Everything was handed to her growing up and she knew going into adulthood that would not be the case especially since she didn't bother going into the entertainment industry. She had to learn to do things on her own.

Her mind roamed into the fact that she had a very casual introduction with the former criminal. Did he know who she was? It didn't appear that way when she mentioned her name to him. But he could have been silent about knowing anything just like she was silent on not bringing up his past. She would give it a couple of more days and if he didn't order anything from her she would bring him something different. It didn't bother her that much but it's enough to make her wonder why he hasn't ordered anything else. Was she prideful to do that? Was she arrogant? Her mind started to wind down and she thought best to just close her eyes and drift off to sleep.

The following day at work, it was around lunch time. She always took her lunch at 11:30 A.M. Considering her shift would start at 7 in the morning and end at 3 in the afternoon, she figured 11:30 would do perfectly to have her lunch. She normally packed her lunch but this morning she woke up later than usual so she had no choice but to go into the cafeteria line to get her food.

While in the line she looked at all the foods they offered. They had multiple lines of food items to choose from. She thought best to settle for something simple as a sandwich because the timing she had with her lunch to sit down and eat. If she went into the other lines, which had a lot more employee's in line than the one she was planning on going through she wouldn't have much time to eat at all. She wanted to sit down and enjoy her lunch.

Once she reached to the main part of the cafeteria she walked toward the stand that had plastic fork, knives, spoons, dipping sauces and napkins. Claire grabbed herself a mayo packet and reached her hand into the napkin despenser. Now, there was a lot of people that worked in that place and a lot of people ate there. Which meant a lot of napkins were going to be taken away. There were napkins in the despenser but it was so far deep in she couldn't reach with her fingers. She sighed heavily.

"HEY CLAIRE LEMME GET THAT FOR YA", it was then she heard a familair voice exclaimed. Claire turned her head to see the man who wore the jester hat. The man she met a couple of days ago and wondered if he liked her coffee.

Quackerjack quickly got several napkins and split them with her.

"Ah, thanks! I really appreciate that. I normally pack my lunch but I woke up later than usual this morning." She shyly stated.

"It's no big deal, this thing can be annoying sometimes with everyone taking them. They go out quickly and I notice every single time I'm in here they restock a lot.I wonder just how many napkins they have to place every day."

"I'm sure that does have to be annoying," she let out a small giggle. Claire started to walk towards a table to find a place to sit. It was awfully crowded. She turned around to face Quackerjack. "Would you like to sit with me for lunch today?"

Quakerjack was a little taken aback. He wasn't really used to someone being so nice. Sure he got along with everyone at the office but a huge part of him wondered if they took him seriously. He was the guy at work that usually told jokes to keep a light hearted energy in the area he worked at. In fact, he was the one who always asked people if they wanted to join. He didn't know if that came from where he was the one who always took initiative and that resulted in people expecting him to ask rather than having to invite themselves. He did want to sit with her, it only made sense to.

"Yeah I would like that.", he stated with a wide goofy grin.

A few moments later they found a table that was empty towards the back of the cafeteria and headed in that direction.

Both of them picked up immediately that eyes were looking at the two. Quackerjack didn't seem to mind but Claire was starting to get annoyed. She could only imagine the type of gossip that would go around all over the floors and she knew she would be asked questions about it later.

They both sat down at the empty table sitting across from one another.

Claire placed her napkin in her lap and looked to Quackerjack. "So, I see you enjoy the occasional pizza?"

"I wouldn't say occasional, it's an everyday lunch. I love how they load it with cheese! It's my favorite!" he smiled.

"It looks delicious. I probably should have gotten that instead of this sandwich but I was afraid if I went through that line I wouldn't have time to eat anything by the time I sat down." She placed her mayo on her sandwich. " I normally pack my lunch, bring something to microwave and use that when I get here."

Quackerjack never thought about packing his lunch. "I would say that would probably be cheaper to bring stuff from home. So that's not a bad idea really."

The both paused to take a bite of their lunches.

"Well Claire it would be rude of me to not ask some questions. So, what did you do before you started working for Quackwerks?"

Claire looked at him for a moment, questioning to herself if he actually knew or if he was being genuine in his questioning. "Well...where do I begin... I got my music degree years back but decided to join a assembly choir. We traveled a lot performing in competitions and if we placed high or won we got a percentage of the money.

Our choir director ended up retiring last year and we just didn't have the heart to have anyone else to guide us. During college I worked at StarDucks for extra cash so after the choir ended I just went back to work there. I guess that's how I got the placement to work with coffee here at Quackwerks."

Quackerjack was stunned. he wasn't expecting anything like that. He was really curious and intrigued. "Wow! So you sing? That's amazing. So you must be really creative huh? I mean you have your degree in music!" he had so many questions.

"Do you write music? Can you read music? Oh wow, I bet you can even write songs yeah?" He was really excited to go deep into this.

"Well, yeah part of getting my education is that we had to learn to read and write music. Huge part of the final grade is we had to write 8 different pieces of music including lyrics. Even if I didn't have a degree I've always found that stuff came very easily to me. It's weird because I don't play any instruments though, however my brother does, he works in the music producing department. He's always collaborating with various artist and doing the music for them. My whole family I guess you can say gravitated towards the arts. It's probably in our DNA." Claire was really starting to relax more with the conversation. It was very evident that Quackerjack knew absolutely nothing with her family ties. So it must mean he's truly genuine in speaking with her. She smiled brightly.

It was then Quackerjack had great idea, "Say, I'm actually working on this lullaby doll that sings to small children to help them relax. Do you think you could help me come up with some lyrics? I was going to go with typical lyllabies but I want this one to really stand out! Pleeeaaaaassseeee Claire?" if eyes could be verbal, it was stating he was begging for this.

Claire took another bite of her sandwich, she thought to herself quietly. She wanted to help him but at the same time if word got out that she was the one who created whatever lyrics for the doll the possibility of Quackwerks would immediately want her on into the entertainment department. That was something she did not want.

She continued to look at him. The more she did, the more she found herself unwilling to say no to him.

"Yes." Was all she managed to get out. She didn't feel it was appropriate to go into how she tried hard to stay away from the entertainment industry. That was a little too personal to bring that right out upfront.

"OH THAT'S WONDERFUL!", Quackerjack was really excited to start this new project of his. It also was a bonus he was around someone who had a genuine creative mindset. He didn't find that too often even in his own department.

"I guess I should give you my telephone number?" Claire asked. "You can stop by the house and we will go over some stuff and see what you like best? I'll have to see what the doll looks like so I can get a better idea as to where I want to go with this."

"Uhhh yeah I guess that would be the best option to communicate outside of work. Problem is, I don't have anything to write with or to write on for that matter." He looked downward, he was a little embarrassed he was always prepared for everything. Even back in his criminal days. The only thing he could think of was to hold his hand out. "I guess you can write it on my hand." he blushed a little bit. He didn't know if it was due to embarassment or if it was because he was holding his hand out to a female.

Claire on the other hand had a pen with her. She constantly had it due to writing down orders and what floor they went to. She was afraid to leave her pen anywhere due to other workers taking pens constantly. "Yeah, that sounds good." she grabbed his hand and wrote down her number. "Call me tonight and we will get something set up for the weekend. It'll be fun. I'll bake a cake!"

Quackerjack looked at his hand and back to her. "You bake too?...Wow, why havent we met before?" he let out a giggle.

"I don't know how we've never came across paths but I'm happy we have now!" she stated. Again she smiled brightly. She always enjoyed being around creative energy and she knew that he had it. "Oh well I hate to cut this short but I have to get back to work. Call me whenever you want to tonight okay?" and with that, she was gone.

Quackerjack still remained seated as he watched her go off into the distance leaving the cafeteria. He made a note to himself that she has brightest yet gentle green eyes. He cracked a smile. 

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I plan on developing the bond very slowly. I don't want to rush anything between the two. I wanted to make it very clear on the backstory with Claire and I promise you'll get a glimpse next chapter on her friends Brian and Roy.

In the comics we really didn't get much of a backstory with Claire and I thought it would be interesting to do that with her. I wanted her to be a creative character that way it would be easier for me to develop something they could connect with. 


	3. Chapter 3

On Fridays, Quackerjack normally got off work one hour earlier than the rest of the weekdays. This was due to the agreement they had settled in court.

The court ordered that he had to attend therapy on an account that he not be placed in prison and to work for Quackwerks. A Multi-Faceted company in need of many talented people. The new program that the court had offered to empty the prison system and place able bodied criminals to work for it. A form of rehabilitation rather than recidivism.

However this had to be met on if they considered Quackerjack to be able to be rehabilitated and never go into the life of crime again.

The court considered him eligible for this program due to having a history of being able bodied and an outstanding citizen. As we all know, Quackerjack owned a toy company but was run out of the business due to poor decision making with his products in pure desperation to not be outrun by the booming video game industry.

We also know he ended up losing everything when Quackerjack went bankrupt. This overall is what drove him into ..certain facilities.

The court figured that Quackerjack should be given a change to make things right.

It was agreed that he would work for the company and have a studio one bedroom apartment with the rent being automatically taken out of his paycheck.

Again, on the account that he attended court ordered weekly therapy appointments to help by improvement emotionally and psychologically.

He wasn't really sure what landed him in court to begin with. It was all such a blur to him. All he remembered was that he had been carrying out some form of a heist with the Fearsome Five.

The one and only thing that did stick out to him was when..."he who shall not be named" ripped and tore Mr. Banana Brain apart out of pure frustration. All because Quackerjack wanted to join on the mission to have Darkwing Ducks true identity.

Quackerjack was still very raged and hurt by it. It was difficult for him to express or even think about. It upset him tremendously that was the only thing he remembered about that particular day. No matter how many times he tried to block it out, those images always came back in short flashes to haunt him.

Most of his therapy appointments were boring to him. He really didn't get much out of it other than talking about his projects he was working on in the toy department at Quackwerks.

This Friday however, was going to be a tad bit different.

We find the eccentric individual sitting at his usual spot in Dr. Sturgils office. On a black leather couch looking at the doctor who had been sitting quietly across the room sitting in his own chair that matched what Quackerjack was sitting in

"Jack, I see on your hand there is a ..telephone number?" Sturgil asked surprisingly. The doctor knew he was well liked by employers Quackerjack worked with. But Quackerjack never spoke about hanging with anyone outside of work. He took this as a sign of improvement. He jotted down in his notes.

Quackerjack was taken aback, he had forgotten that Claires number had been written on his hand. He blushed.

The blushing was short lived because he found himself getting slightly defensive.

"It's just a number of an employer, I'm working on a project with her this weekend..." he instantly regretted saying the pronoun. He covered his beak with his hand.

Dr. Sturgil raised his eyebrow, he was curious. He debated on if he should continue to talk about her or talk about the project. He decided on the latter.

"Ah, I see... What project is it? Does she work in the toy department?"

Quackerjack found himself starting to get a little annoyed.

"Why are you asking me if she works in the toy department? I didn't say it was a project for work did I? For all you know, it could be something outside of work!" he raised his hands in the air to add expression to his tone. His eyes darted away from the man in front of him and was looking out the window.

"No...no you didn't mention anything. I guess that was my way of asking if it had anything to do with work. I apologize if it came across that I was assuming anything."

Dr. Sturgil didn't want to push too hard. He knows if he did, that this appointment would be over with very quickly. He was genuine in wanting Quackerjack to get better in opening up.

Quackerjack found himself glancing back at the doctor. He sighed heavily and held his head down. He figured that if he wanted a good report to the court he was going to have to say a little something about the situation of the phone number.

"She delivers coffee at Quackwerks. I requested for one the other day and that is how we met. Later on we met in the cafeteria and we got to talking and she told me that she used to sing. I'm currently at the beginning of working on a doll that sings lullabies to help children sleep and I asked her to help me with it. I was thinking of having her voice recorded for the doll. But I don't know how she would feel about that. If she didn't agree to that, she did say she could help me write lyrics."

"I'm assuming she agreed to working along with you on your project?"

"Yes. That's how I got her number on my hand." he found his cheeks started to heat a tiny bit.

Dr. Sturgil took notice but remained silent, he was wanting to hear more.

"She offered to bake a cake too, she said we could work on it at her place."

Again, Dr. Sturgil remained quiet. He wanted to see how long this could go on.

"I don't know if I should take the bus there or if she would pick me up...What if she asks why I take a bus? Do I explain that I cannot afford a car..oh how embarrassing would that be! I-.." Quackerjack started to feel his chest tighten. He was starting to take short breaths.

It was apparent to Dr. Sturgil that the duck in the jester hat was starting to pick up a little anxiety.

"Quackerjack, I need you to listen to me. I need you to breathe in through your nose and out your mouth. Very slowly. Do that for me five times please. Close your eyes as you're doing so." he stated in a low serene tone.

Quackerjack did as he was told and found himself starting to become a little less untroubled.

He opened his eyes, "I-.."

"How about you just call her and take it from there." the doctor interjected. "I can see that this project you're working on you feel very passionately about. Which to no surprise by me, you've already placed a lot of thought into this. Surely she must see that too in order for her to agree to working on it with you?"

Quackerjack felt himself more at ease through his words. "Yeah, I believe she does." he started to have a small grin appear on his face.

Once Dr. Sturgil could see that his patient was more relaxed. He decided that would be the end of their session today.

"Well, I believe that is all the time we have for today. Hope everything goes well for you this week and we will catch up and talk more about your project." He reached out to shake Quackerjacks hand.

"Yeah...", was all he could manage to say. He still had some questions but he knew their time was up.

Quackerjack had been pacing around in his apartment going back and forth.

There wasn't much room in his studio apartment. Everything was combined together all in one small space. Only doors there were was to the bathroom and to leave the apartment.

He wasn't nervous.

He wasn't.

That's what he told himself anyway.

He thought that would be a booster to get him to call Claire.

It wasn't working.

Truth of the matter is, he had been pacing for over 25 minutes.

What was he going to say to her?

How was he going to get to her house?

He felt his chest starting to tighten up again.

He took deep breaths like Dr. Sturgil suggested him to.

He felt his shoulders relax.

Not for long though.

"Arrrrggghhhh" his hands gripped around both sides of his hat and he started to tug, twist and wrap around his head.

He took in some more deep breaths. Twenty deep long breaths.

Finally he started to feel his shoulders relax. He didn't feel so much tension in his neck. He scowled. "Forget pacing around like this, let's just get this over with." He swiftly grabbed his phone and dialed the numbers that were placed on his hand."

First ring... nothing

Second ring... nothing

Third ring... she's not going to answer.

It seemed like forever to Quackerjack...

It was starting the beginning sound of the fourth ring..

Then the familiar feminine voice came through, "Hello?"

"Uhhh hello...is this Claire?" he was hoping through his nervousness he dialed the number correctly.

"Yes...is this Jacky?"

Ah, that same name she called him days earlier. He reminded himself he needed to ask her about that. He was still wondering if she misheard him on the day they had introductions.

"Yes..." his voice drifted off. He pulled the collar of his shirt, he was starting to get nervous again.

Several more seconds of silence.

Claire decided best to continue onward.

"I guess you're calling about this weekend to work on your doll?"

Quackerjack blinked his eyes, ' _Talk about getting straight to the point!'_

"Uhhh yeah! I-"

"Well how about we start tonight? The sooner the better I think! Don't you?"

Now the duck just had a blank stare. How in the world was he going to tell her about possibly taking a bus?

"Here is my address, do you think you can stop by around 7?"

Quackerjack sighed heavily. He made sure to cover the phone so Claire couldn't hear any distress. "Actually that works out just fine."

The truth was, it actually did. He could take the bus at 6, get off at the bus stop and walk rest of the way. Around the time he would get to her house it should be right at 7 if not a little after.

The problem he was running into was explaining how he doesn't have a license or a car. How he had to take the bus. That was pretty embarrassing to him. Also the fact he wouldn't be able to stay very long to work on anything due to the last call being at 11. He would have to leave early to make sure he got home..safely.

Quackerjack didn't live on the best side of town. Especially in the apartment complex, it was filled with dangerous criminals still pursuing the petty larceny lifestyle. It was the only place he could manage to get into to live due to his criminal history.

He also didn't want to get himself into a situation he couldn't get himself out of. Anything could happen. He just couldn't risk it.

In his mind, explaining all that to Claire is not only embarrassing but he was afraid she would judge him due to it. Sure it seemed like she was aware of his criminal history and it seemed as if she didn't mind it. But he could never be too sure of anything anymore. He made a mental note to himself awhile back not to trust anything at hundred percent.

"That sounds perfect! In the meantime I'll bake a cake for us to snack on while we work! I got just the perfect cake to mix up!"

"Wonderful! I'm looking forward to all the sugar hype we will be on while we work!" he couldn't help but smile at her response. Even though she was oblivious to his situation, he couldn't get frustrated with her. She just seemed so pleasant and charming. It must have been effortless for her.

He was more frustrated at his situation and having to explain it.

"Okay sounds great Jacky! See you soon!" and with that, he heard the phone hang up.

Quackerjack placed his phone down and found himself walking into the bathroom. He placed his clothes including his jester hat on the floor, looking into a mirror.

He was used to seeing his face. He was used to seeing his bald head. With a couple of ruffled feathers on top. Others did not see him without his jester hat on.

Never.

Not since the day he turned his life to crime.

When he worked at his toy company he had moments where he would have it on to promote products and when he would be in business meetings he had the hat off.

The duck was pretty positive that nobody even remembers what he looks like underneath the hat.

Half of the time he didn't even remember what he looked like. Sure he was used to seeing it. But he got so lost in his criminal persona that he lost a huge part of his identity.

It never really bothered him...until now.

Part of him wanted to take it off. It would show to not only to the court but to himself that he is improving on being a better man.

Then the other part of him didn't want to take it off. To him, it showed the most vulnerability.

He grew up never being vulnerable.

Not until he lost his company and went bankrupt.

Quackerjack kept looking into the mirror once more.

He didn't like what he saw. He quickly washed his face and placed the hat back on. He grabbed a wash cloth and a bar of soap and washed the important parts of himself using the sink water.

He didn't feel like showering. It was too much effort and would have made him rush for timing. He didn't want to be late on their first time hanging out. In his mind, being late is completely disrespectful. Even when he had his own company and any time he worked with the Fearsome Five he was never late.

The duck assumed it was because he is an impatient person. He loathed waiting on people to show up.

There had been a few times he had to wait on others within his company and his fellow felons to show up.

He finished cleaning himself up and placed a towel around him walking over to his closet and placing fresher clothes on. He figured he would be in something more casual. His first instinct was to place his costume on but he figured that would have probably raised an eyebrow with Claire and he didn't want to freak her out.

Quackerjack placed clothes on and on out the door he went.

In a beige house with a blue door and a couple of windows with pink curtains, Claire was finishing up tidying her home. Vacuuming the carpet, watering her plants and fluffing the small pillows that were used for decor on her couch. She was waiting for the cake to be done. She made one of her favorites, it was a classic but favorable nonetheless. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

The chocolate chip bundt cake she had baked for Brian earlier in the week had still remained in her kitchen. She kept forgetting to give it to him at work. She thought to herself maybe she should just sent it to her new friend Jacky to take home with him.

She could always make Brain another one.

Claire picked up the duster and began to dust off the little table she had in her living room. It was going to be the place they would work on with Quackerjacks new doll he was working on.

She placed the duster back into the container that was in the bathroom cabinet.

It was then she heard the doorbell ring. She looked in her bathroom mirror, she dusted herself off and headed for the front door.

As Claire was placing her hand on the doorknob she noticed that the doorbell rang again.

Finally she opened the door only to find Quackerjack standing right in front of her his finger pulling away from the doorbell.

"Well hello there! Come on in Jacky!" she exclaimed excitedly. She held out her arm as to lead him the way into her home. She looked out into the street and looked both left and right. She noted that there wasn't any vehicle in sight. She closed her eyes. She felt embarrassed.

Claire picked up that Quackerjack had probably taken the bus. She felt horrible. She should have offered to pick him up.

"Here Jacky let me get that bag for ya. I'll set it on the table. "

Quackerjack allowed her to take the bag from him. He looked around her house. It was really beautiful and innocent looking. He quickly picked up that she must have loved the color pink with her curtains in the windows. Not to mention every single time he saw her she was wearing pink. The home looked really cozy. There were floral interior designs spotted at random places in the living room. Something about this place made him feel very comfortable. It was an honest home. Nothing too fancy or nothing superficial about it. It was a very welcoming home.

"Quite the place you got here.." he stated humbly. He wasn't looking directly at Claire yet. He was still in complete awe of her home. It had been a long time since he had seen anything like this. Probably since his childhood.

"Well I hope that's a compliment.." Claire stated teasingly. Truth was, she never really had any complaints about her home. She always kept it clean, everything was well organized. She always wanted a home she could just be relaxed and comfortable in and always made sure the vibe of her home made others feel the same way. She's accomplished that.

It was then the timer from the oven went off. "Oh that's the cake, just sit over there at the table. I'll be just a second." and with that she went into the kitchen.

Quackerjack walked over to the table and grabbed his bag that Claire had placed on the table and started placing everything he had in out on the table.

A few moments later Claire came walking back into the living room and sat herself across from where Quackerjack was sitting. "Well Jacky...tell me a little more about this doll you're planning, you mentioned you were making it sing lullabies?"

Quackerjack noticed that was the third time she called him by that name. He paused. He didn't know if he should continue talking about the doll or if he should confront on why she called him by that name, not that he really minded. It just confused him. Everyone else called him Jack at work. It was still on his mind of the possibility of her mishearing him when he told her that earlier in the week when they first met.

"Uhhh Claire...can I ask you something if it's not too upfront?"

"Sure...what's on you're mind?" She answered softly.

But before he could continue on with his question...

A male duck opened Claires front door and walked himself into the house. 

* * *

Authors Notes.

I know stated that I would introduce Brian and Roy in this chapter. But I felt it was a little more important to get somewhat of an into on Quackerjack and what he's currently going through and how he managed to end up to where he was for those that have not read the comics. But trust me. It will happen.

Sorry it took a little bit to bring up this chapter. I had a lot going on this week.

Chapter 4 will be posted later in the week.


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